This invention relates to an operating table for use in hand surgery.
Hand surgery tables have been used in the medical field to perform surgery on a patient""s hand for many years. Conventional hand surgery tables utilize rigid elbow support structures attached in a fixed manner to respective sides of the hand surgery table. The attending surgeon and the nurse assistant utilize the elbow support structures to rest their elbows during the surgical procedure.
Conventional elbow support structures are not pivotable or retractable underneath the hand surgery table. The elbow support structures have a tendency to get in the way during surgery or afterwards when the hand surgery table is detached from a conventional operating table for storage. Additionally, the elbow support structures are rectangularly shaped and boxy and do not permit the attending surgeon or the nurse assistant to sit comfortably at the hand surgery table. Further, the elbow support structures are hard and not cushioned, making it uncomfortable for the attending surgeon to rest his elbows. All of these problems tend to impair the attending surgeon""s and the nurse assistant""s comfort, maneuverability, and performance during hand surgery on a patient.
This invention relates to a universal hand surgery table with a top for supporting a patient""s arm during hand surgery. Preferably, a concave end of the hand surgery table accommodates the attending surgeon""s torso so that the attending surgeon may sit comfortably at the end of the table if the attending surgeon desires to sit at this position. Preferably, a tongue-shaped end portion extends oppositely from the concave end, for securing the hand surgery table to a conventional operating table on which the patient lies and rests his or her forearm on the top of the hand surgery table.
Preferably, pairs of elbow support structures are attached to respective sides of the hand surgery table and include convex peripheries permitting the attending surgeon to sit comfortably at one side of the hand surgery table, and a nurse to sit comfortably at the opposite side of the hand surgery table with the attending surgeon""s and the nurse assistant""s torsos contacting insides of the curved peripheries and the attending surgeon""s and the nurse assistant""s elbows supported by the universal hand surgery table. Preferably, the elbow support structures are retractable to the underside of the hand surgery table.
Preferably, the elbow support structures are slidably and retractably mounted with respect to the outer periphery of the hand surgery table. Most preferably, at least one longitudinal tube is provided mounted to the bottom of the hand surgery table, with one tube preferably being provided on either side of the table at which the elbow rests are mounted. Curved, preferably circular brackets preferably fit around the longitudinal tubes and slide therealong. Further desirably, each tube is equipped with one and preferably two indented locking tracks. These locking tracks preferably receive spring mounted, retractable set screws which are connected to the elbow rests. When the set screws are retracted, this allows the elbow rests to slide on the longitudinally elongated tubes underneath the table. The set screws are then used to lock the elbow rests into position by engagement with the opposing indented track. This feature of the elbow rest whereby the longitudinal position of the elbow rests is adjustable permits physicians and attending nurses of differing physical size to sit comfortably at the hand surgery table.
The retractable aspect of the elbow support structure facilitates pivoting movement of the elbow support structures from a position at which the elbow support structures are substantially co-planar with the remainder of the hand surgery table to positions where the elbow support structures have rotated 90xc2x0 and are below the main surface of the hand surgery table. This facilitates storage of the hand surgery table and provides additional room around the periphery of the table when the elbow support structures are in the retracted position.
The universal hand surgery table of the invention does not employ any legs or other support resting on the floor. Rather, the universal hand surgery table of the invention is essentially cantilevered from a main operating table so that the area beneath the universal hand surgery table of the invention is completely free and clear whenever the universal hand surgery table of the invention is used. This permits the attending surgeon to position image intensifying equipment, such as a fluoroscope, beneath the universal hand surgery table. This also permits the attending surgeon to move freely about the universal hand surgery table since the attending surgeon will normally be seated on a castor-equipped chair.